More than thirty years ago, flammability standards were instituted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission under 16 C.F.R. § 1632. These standards addressed the flammability requirements of mattresses to resist ignition upon exposure to smoldering cigarettes. However, the Code of Federal Regulations failed to address the need for mattresses to resist ignition upon exposure to small open flames, such as produced by matches, lighters, and candles.
Technological advances have proven to provide mattresses, as well as bedding constituents, with significantly better flammability protection. In light of these advancements, California Legislature has mandated that the Consumer Product Safety Commission establish a revised set of standards that will ensure mattresses and bedding pass an open flame ignition test. Known as Assembly Bill 603 (AB 603), California Legislature has further mandated that the revised set of standards go into affect Jan. 1, 2004.
Flame retardant staple fiber is known in the art. Further, flame retardant fiber has been utilized in the fabrication of nonwoven fabrics for bedding applications. Nonwoven fabrics are suitable for use in a wide variety of applications where the efficiency with which the fabrics can be manufactured provides a significant economic advantage for these fabrics versus traditional textiles. However, nonwoven fabrics have commonly been disadvantaged when fabric properties are compared, particularly in terms of surface abrasion, pilling and durability in multiple-use applications. Hydroentangled fabrics have been developed with improved properties which are a result of the entanglement of the fibers or filaments in the fabric providing improved fabric integrity. Subsequent to entanglement, fabric durability can be further enhanced by the application of binder compositions and/or by thermal stabilization of the entangled fibrous matrix.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,706, to Evans, hereby incorporated by reference, discloses processes for effecting hydroentanglement of nonwoven fabrics. More recently, hydroentanglement techniques have been developed which impart images or patterns to the entangled fabric by effecting hydroentanglement on three-dimensional image transfer devices. Such three-dimensional image transfer devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,764, hereby incorporated by reference, with the use of such image transfer devices being desirable for providing a fabric with enhanced physical properties as well as an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
Heretofore, nonwoven fabrics have been advantageously employed for manufacture of flame retardant fabrics, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,489,256, to Kent, et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference. Typically, nonwoven fabrics employed for this type of application have been entangled and integrated by needle-punching, sometimes referred to as needle-felting, which entails insertion and withdrawal of barbed needles through a fibrous web structure. While this type of processing acts to integrate the fibrous structure and lend integrity thereto, the barbed needles inevitably shear large numbers of the constituent fibers, and undesirably create perforations in the fibrous structure. Needle-punching can also be detrimental to the strength of the resultant fabric, requiring that a fabric have a relatively high basis weight in order to exhibit sufficient strength.
A need exists for a more cost effective flame retardant nonwoven fabric that is cost effective, soft, yet durable and suitable for various end-use applications including, but not limited to bedding constituents, such as mattress components, mattress pads, mattress ticking, comforters, bedspreads, quilts, coverlets, duvets, pillow covers, as well as other home uses, protective apparel applications, upholstery, and industrial end-use applications.